Viz Launches Genre Novel Imprint

Viz Media has formally announced the launch of its Haikasoru line of English-translated science fiction and fantasy novels from Japan. Haikasoru, the first English-language “imprint with a dedicated focus on Japanese SF” will publish 12 novels a year, with the first four shipping this July and September. The first four novels from the line will be:

The Lord of the Sands of Time, by Issui Ogawa, is a romantic sci-fi tale about a cyborg sent back to various periods in time to prepare humanity to defend itself against a future alien invasion. The novel will be released in July and retail at $13.99.

All You Need is Kill, by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, is the story of a soldier in a futuristic war who gets killed and reborn each day to fight again until, after 158 deaths, a mysterious change in the cycle occurs. The novel will be released in July and retail at $13.99.

ZOO, by Otsuichi, is a best selling collection of eleven dark fantasy and science fiction stories. Five of the eleven stories were featured in the 2005 film ZOO (4 segments were live action, one was animated). The novel will be released in September and retail at $13.99.

Usurper of the Sun, by Housuke Nojiri, won the prestigious 2002 Seiun Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. The hard sci-fi story details the efforts of a female scientist to travel to the center of the solar system to save the Earth from natural destruction. The novel will be released in September and retail at $15.99.